


HLVRAI: But The AI is Real

by SpacedKey



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Gen, M/M, Unreliable Narrator, anything i write is unlikely to change once posted, benry is nb and there's nothing you can do about it, but it's not really big enough to tag, characters are probably ooc as hell, gordon tag removed while fandoms are combined, no beta we die like men, so chapters will be of variable quality, technically there's bg boomer and magicsodablade, the benry/gordon is eventual but i know i'm gonna forget to tag it later, the original character is purely a plot device
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-30
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:28:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpacedKey/pseuds/SpacedKey
Summary: Gordon has been having troubled sleep after completing the game, and he needs to find a solution, but sometimes trusting strangers online can only lead to trouble.(constructive feedback greatly appreciated!)
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 13
Kudos: 116





	1. Troubled Sleep

“ _...You changed our lives, Gordon. I’d like to think it was for the better. And I don’t know what’s going to happen to us once you exit the game for good, but I know we’ll never forget you._ ”

Gordon wakes up to warm tears running down the sides of his face. He clears his vision and looks to the clock on the nightstand. 5 am.   
Begrudgingly, he gets up, knowing from the last week of this schedule that any attempts to go back to sleep would be pointless. He navigates his way to the kitchen, taking care not to wake Joshua.

As he waits for his coffee to brew, he tries to find the reason for the dreams he keeps having. What was it about that game that impacted him that strongly? Sure, the characters seemed real, and called him by name, but at least that second one was easy to explain.

He’d loved the Half-Life series when he was younger, impacting his life in many ways. So, when he needed a new name, it was no question he’d take the name of the silent protagonist he’d saw himself in the shoes of. 

His interest in the series, of course, died out some with the lack of new games, but when news of a new one coming out had reached him, he found himself browsing some of the old forums he’d perused during his youth.

Among some of the archived posts, he found one with only a handful of replies. The OP was talking about a beta version of Half-Life with an astonishing amount of cut content that they had found. However, they, and the others in the thread, couldn’t get it to work. Gordon, taking a chance with the potentially dead download link, and the moderate knowledge of coding he’d learned, clicked the link the OP had provided. To his surprise, the link still worked!

This was a one in a thousand opportunity to see the inner workings of an abandoned Half-Life prototype, and he wasn’t going to let this chance go to waste.

* * *

  
Digging through some of the files he found something he didn’t expect. There was a section of code that seemed to imply this build was made for virtual reality and voice recognition?    
“This doesn’t look right…” he mumbled to himself.

Gordon looked it over again. Turns out, he wasn’t mistaken, but this had some interesting implications.

Valve was developing a game for technology that wasn’t even close to being advanced enough to even run it!   
His eyes glanced over to his VR headset next to his television.

* * *

So why had this overwhelmed him so much? It’s just a _game_! Just lines of code made to make you connect to the characters in an artificial way so you continue playing! They’re not real people, so why-   
  


The coffee pot beeps, signaling it’s brewed. Gordon sighs and runs his hand through his hair. As he prepares his coffee, he makes a decision.   
“I’ve got to see what made them so advanced…”


	2. Code Complications

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> asking for help sometimes gives you strange answers

“This… doesn’t make sense.”  
Looking over the files for each of the characters, one thing became apparent. The ‘code’ being used doesn’t seem to be in any computer language that actually exists. Half of it just appears as black squares or missing character boxes. The legible parts seem to point to files that are filled with more broken code.  
Searching online, the only probable answer is that it was written in something other than the Latin alphabet, but swapping his computer language does nothing to change the errors.

Gordon catches a glimpse of the time and sees it’s 7:30. Needing to get Josh up at 8, he types up a post on a coding site and asks for some solutions to this conundrum, and downs the last of his cold coffee.

* * *

Later in the day, getting a brief respite from diligent fatherhood while Josh watches Clifford the Big Red Dog, Gordon goes back online and checks his emails.

Having forgotten about that morning, an email amongst boring business emails caught his attention.

> (Re: Broken Code)

> Apologies for intruding upon your personal email, Mr. Freeman, but no-one else on that thread has any idea what you’re actually looking into.  
> What you’re looking at isn’t meant to be looked at through a normal code viewer, but I have some software that can allow you to view it properly.

> Stay in touch, Mr. E

Attached to the email there is a sketchy looking link to a website, presumably leading to the download of some malware.

“Mr. E? Really?” Gordon says, incredulously.

As he goes to delete the email, another one comes up.

> (No Subject)
> 
> Are you sure you don’t want to hear me out?  
> There’s plenty of information you can learn about this if you just listen to what I have to say.
> 
> Mr. E

‘ _Freaky_ ,’ Gordon thinks, ‘ _but it’s just coincidence_ ’  
Another email comes. 

> (Coincidence?)
> 
> I assure you it’s not. Just download the file, and get some answers Mr. Freeman.
> 
> Mr. E

Now decently perturbed, Gordon goes back to the first email, and hesitantly clicks the link.

* * *

**portalsfromacodedworld.org**

The website looks old and severely outdated. Square shaped layout filled with many gaudy colors, and various animated texts, it looks very 90’s.

Zooming in to try and read the text easier, he can just barely make out the names of categories beyond the eyestrain. 

**|Download| |FAQ| |Tutorials| |About us|**

Gordon scopes out the site, checking to make sure there the chance of whatever it is he’s supposed to be downloading isn’t going to brick his computer the moment he runs it.

**|FAQ|**

**_Q: When was this website made? 1990??_ **

A: Approximately a week ago.

**_Q: What am I downloading from the download page?_ **

A: Software to translate unreadable text and edit code

_**Q: Who’s Mr. E?** _

A: Mystery ;)

_**Q: Why do all these pre-made questions match my questions?** _

A: What, can’t take a hint?

Clicking both the ‘Tutorials’ and ‘About Us’ tabs lead to white pages with black text saying 'Come back later!'

Having seemingly no other option, Gordon downloads the software.

* * *

Surprisingly, it comes with an install wizard, but it has a download estimation of 14 hours.

“No big deal,” he says in a tone implying it is a big deal, “I’ll get other work done while it-”  
He can’t click off of the install wizard. There is no close button either.

“God d-” he remembers Josh is in the room, “darn it.”

As much as Gordon would like to just restart the computer, he figures letting it run its course it the best way to prevent irreparable damage to his laptop.

His day, considerably ruined, he attempts to take his mind off of it. 

He plays with Josh and watches kids shows with him, prepares dinner for the both of them, puts Josh to bed, watches some housewife drama for an hour or two, and starts getting ready for bed.  
He glances at the install estimation. It would be ready at approximately 4 am.  
“I hope I still have a computer in the morning…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> next chapter coming in a bit, and will be more what you probably expected when you started reading this!


	3. "Unexpected" Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> wow who could have guessed this would happen??

“Dada?”  
Gordon starts, waking up to Josh’s worried face.  
“Huh? What is it Joshie?” he says, groggy with sleep. He attempts to clear his eyes and look at the time. 4:34am  
  
“I heard a thing…” Josh says.  
Now a little more alert, Gordon sits up. “What kind of thing?”  
“Like a…” Josh pauses and then mimics a crashing noise.  
  
When he registers what Josh means, Gordon quickly lifts him up and sets him on the bed.  
Gordon signs ‘stay here’ and Josh nods, hiding under the covers.  
Grabbing the wooden bat he keeps next to his bed, he sneaks quietly out of the bedroom and searches the house, making sure he avoids squeaky floorboards.  
  
Turning the corner to the kitchen/dining room area, he sees some of the room lit up by his still running laptop. Advancing further, he notices a pile of… something… in front of the computer.  
  
Gordon turns on the light with the bat. He squints through the now enlightened room and can see that the pile has the colors of mostly blue and white, but without his glasses, can’t tell what it is. Cautiously, he grabs the pair he left next to the laptop and looks down at- 

“WHAT THE FUCK?”

The ‘pile’ is four people stacked on top of each other, all seemingly unconscious. The blue he saw on top was someone wearing-

“owwww. dude... can you not?”  
The man wearing the blue security vest starts getting up off of the top of the human pile, causing Gordon to back up with his bat in a defensive position.  
“i was sleepin’ here… where is… here?” 

He looks around the room, clearly confused, gaze eventually landing on the panicked Gordon. Another person stirs from the pile.  
“What-where am I?”

Gordon starts comprehending the illogical situation he’s found himself in, and the last two on the floor start getting up.  
“This is new.” says the taller of the older men  
“I haven’t woken up like this since my boxing days!” says- you get the picture.  
  
Gordon falls to his knees as he stares at the group, which his now more awake brain can accurately identify as the science team. But how? Why? None of this makes any god damn-

The sound of bare feet running on hardwood breaks his train of thought.  
“Dada!” Josh comes running to him and latches onto his torso.  
Gordon looks down to Josh then back to the science team.  
  
He clears his throat, “I-it’s okay Joshie, I’m fine.”  
  
Recognition flashes on the face of the group when he speaks.  
Dr. Coomer then looks at his hands, Bubby looks at Dr. Coomer, Tommy looks around the room, and Benry stays looking at Gordon and Josh.  
Then Dr. Cooomer starts to cry. It sounds relieved, and joyous, but also slightly pained.  
  
Bubby goes to comfort him, and Gordon pays attention to Josh.  
  
“Don’t worry, Josh, they’re just Dada’s… friends.”  
  
He picks Josh up and takes him back to his bed and tucks him in.  
“Go back to sleep, I’ll introduce you in the morning.”  
  
Closing the door to the bedroom, he deems it the rightful moment to freak the fuck out. He leans against the wall and tries to process this entire situation.  
“Okay Gordon..” he mumbles to himself, “you graduated college, you can figure this out. Cause and effect, right? Dreams caused you to be curious, curiosity caused you to ask the internet for solutions, that caused Mr. E, which-”  
  
He gets cut off by someone walking up to him.  
“Mr. Freeman?” He looks up at Tommy. “How did we get here?”  
  
Gordon runs his hand through his hair, and signals Tommy to follow him back to the dining room and into the adjacent living room, where the others migrated to.  
  
“So,” Gordon starts in a hushed tone, ”do you guys know how you ended up here?”  
As they think it over, he looks at them. It’s… odd, seeing them look human. Compared to their in-game models, they look so… real.  
  
Coomer’s the first one to speak, still sniffling slightly.  
“The last thing I can recall is the parting message I’d left for you. Then the dark of you turning off the game.”  
  
Gordon looks at the others and reaches the conclusion that dark is the last thing the others saw too. Looking at Benry however, he just finds them looking at the game consoles Gordon has under his TV.  
  
“Anything to add, Benrey?”  
In reply, they just hum, without looking back.  
He then turns to Tommy,  
  
“Did Gm-your dad, Sunkist, Forzen, or Darnold come too?”

He looks slightly uncomfortable at the mention of Gman, but shakes his head.  
“I don’t know…”

Gordon’s laptop suddenly makes a noise, so he goes to investigate.  
On the screen, the setup wizard says ‘Setup complete’ and has a close button.  
When he closes it, he sees that another email has come in from Mr. E.

> (Re: Compatriots)
> 
> Mr. Freeman,  
> It is pleasant to hear that those four have made it to your humble abode safely with minimal trouble.  
> In regards to Mr. and Dr. Pepper, I am hosting them in my living space out of consideration for your current occupancy limit.  
> As for Coolatta Senior, I am unaware of his whereabouts, but presumably you can understand his capricious nature is a factor in this.  
>   
> Regards, Mr. E  
> Ps. Wait Sunkist isn’t there? She’s not here… 

After reading the PS, there’s a scratching at the front door. Looking through the peephole, there’s a yellow shape at the bottom of its vision. Tentatively, Gordon opens the door… only to be pushed aside by a huge dog running past. There’s a thud in the other room, and he closes the front door with a sigh.  
“I need a coffee…”


	4. chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i couldn't think of a chapter title for this one, but just some in-between events i guess

Now equipped with a cup of coffee, many questions, and new distractions, Gordon makes his way back to the website Mr. E linked him to. Surprisingly, the website is:   
1) still there   
2) now designed like a modern company page.  
  
Relieved he doesn’t have to add eye damage to the list of new problems, he navigates to the ‘about us’ section.

> Portals From A Coded World is dedicated to answering questions and bringing order to the worlds we interact with. Our dedicated team of people aim to aid you in whatever multiversal troubles you may face! Be it interacting with an object cursed by a time witch, becoming lost in a void between realities, or finding yourself haunted by the prospect of making friends with those stuck in another realm of existence and finding yourself unable to help them*!
> 
> *All situations mentioned are purely hypothetical.

Now even more irritated by the taunting nature of the text, he then goes to the ‘tutorials’ tab.

> How to find out what your otherworldly friends can and can’t still do in their new existence:

There’s a video under this: There’s a stock photo of a man shrugging with floating text that says “I don’t know lol” then switches to “maybe just ask them” over a cartoon smiley with a thumbs-up

> How to prevent your previously-virtual friends (and enemies) from feeling guilty about the things they did in the game:

There’s an image of a 'galaxy brain' meme: 

> Normal brain: ignoring confrontation and moving on with life  
>  Glowing brain: waiting for them to bring it up with you  
>  Galaxy brain: preemptively telling them you don’t hold them responsible for the things they were pre-coded to do

“This is fucking stupid.” Gordon shuts down his laptop and drinks his coffee.  
When he tilts the mug back down, Benry’s standing across the table, startling him.  
“yo, uh, y’got…games?”  
He takes a moment to stop choking on his drink before answering.  
“Y-yeah. I keep the non-kid friendly stuff above the tv, what did you want to play?”  
“something with video... and games.”  
Gordon laughs slightly, “Even ‘Elmo’s Number Journey’ qualifies then.”

“yeah, i’ll play that, thank you.”  
He raises his brow at this but heads towards the games cabinet under the TV.  
“I was joking, you can play any of the games as long as you don’t erase any files,” he pulls Elmo’s Number Journey for the N64 out and hands the cartridge to Benry. ”But here you go.”  
They take the game and head to the console to set it up.  
  


Gordon looks at the others. Tommy’s laying on the carpet, head resting on Sunkist. Dr. Coomer is laying down on the couch, head on bubby’s lap (with a pillow resting on top). Bubby seems to be looking into the middle distance.  
“How are the rest of you… Holding up?”  
No one says anything, the silence weighing several tons. Until Sunkist lets out a small bark of contentment and Tommy pets under her chin.  
“I’m still...Processing, Mr. Freeman,” he says. “Everything feels… Different.”  
“Real.“ adds Dr. Coomer.  
Benry reacts to this, hands tensing on the controller, causing them to miss a number in one of the collectathon levels.  
“oops” small desaturated blue orbs come out of Benry’s mouth.  
‘So he _can_ still use the sweet voice…’ Gordon looks to Tommy and gestures towards them.  
“Blue yonder… Means they don’t like to ponder.” he provides, solemnly.  
Looking to Bubby, Gordon tries to see if he has any input on the whole situation.

“I’m not talking about it.”  
“I’m not going to force anyone to talk about it if they don’t want to… But I think it’s fair to say a group pow-wow is needed sooner rather than later.”  
  


* * *

  
Eventually, Bubby asked for a board game to play, opting to play shoots and ladders with Dr. Coomer, with Tommy watching them play.  
At 8 am Gordon wakes up Josh and starts their day.  
When they make their way to the kitchen for breakfast, Josh sees Benry playing one of his games, Mario Kart. The moment Gordon sets him down, he runs towards the beanbag Benry’s sitting in.  
“Which do you-do you like best?” he says, pointing to the screen.  
“princess peach, epic gamer girl, she’s the _only_ choice.”  
Josh laughs at this. “I like… Loo-ee-gee.”  
Benry contemplates this and says, “that’s my second choice.”  
  
Gordon, in the kitchen, making french toast, smiles at this. Then catches himself and tries to stop smiling.  
“Are you guys fine with french toast or do you want me to make you something else?”

* * *

As the day went on, the tension seemed to dissipate slightly.  
Benry finally moved on to the games placed above the TV, Bubby started griping about losing in every game of cards with Dr. Coomer, and Tommy was explaining the mechanics of how to play Beyblades to Josh.

Feeling content with how the day is going, considering how much of a whirlwind it’s been, Gordon gets up, thinking now is the time when he should finally start getting work done on his computer…

Only to find it won’t start-up.  
Letting out an exasperated sigh, he starts pacing the room and wringing his hands together over and over. The stress of all these new things coming back full force by the single minor inconvenience, and he begins mumbling to himself.  
“Of course this happens. Why _wouldn’t_ this happen?”  
  
Although it’s unheard by the others, Benry takes note of this minor meltdown beginning to happen and sets down the controller.  
  
“This is why you don’t trust strangers from the internet Gordon. This is why you shouldn’t ask questions!”  
They get up and walk in the path of Gordon’s pacing, the others only now noticing the situation due to Benry’s sudden movement from the spot they’d been in for the entire day.  
  
They grab Gordon’s hands and hold them still, stopping his pacing. He looks them in the eyes, snapping back into the moment. Benry’s eyes, a silvery metallic color, start shifting to an opalescent, then to a saturated medium blue. They then sing out a few orbs, matching the same shade of blue in their eyes.  
“calm down.”  
  
They let go of his hands when his fists stop clenching. The color of Benry’s eyes fade back to silver, and Gordon notices how close they’re standing. He backs up suddenly, hand to mouth, looking towards the floor.  
“Woah!” calls Josh, looking up at the dissipating orbs. “P-pretty!”  
Benry, with a slight smile, starts walking back to the beanbag, but a hand on their shoulder stops them. They look at Gordon, who is avoiding eye contact.  
“Thanks.”  
  
Upon hearing this, an uncomfortable knot forms in their chest.  
“not a- no problemo.” They draw out the final ‘o’ as they continue back to their gamer spot, a salmony pink ball floating in the air behind them.  
It dissipates before Gordon sees it, and Tommy doesn’t mention that he saw it.  
  
‘Bittersweet,’ he thinks

‘I don’t have a rhyme for that one.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhh characters talking is not my strong suit... but i think i did well enough!  
> the colors i was looking at for Benry's sweet voice were blue yonder (#5072A7), azure (#007FFF), and bittersweet (#FE6F5E)
> 
> Thanks for the lovely comments! And if anyone has any critiques as well, I'll listen as best i can!
> 
> if anyone wants to ask me questions directly or w/e my Tumblr is spacedkey, and I'll respond to any questions (within reason ofc)


	5. Minimal Answers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so many questions to be asked.

Gordon opens his eyes, yet he sees nothing.  
He looks at his hands, which are there, and back to the void around him.  
‘Where am I?’ he opens his mouth to speak, though no words leave him.  
He grips his throat lightly and tries to make noise. Nothing comes. The oppressive silence bothers him, but something grabs his attention. There’s a light directly in front of him, about 15 feet away, shining on a pillar. There’s something resting on top.  
  
He walks towards it, feeling drawn forwards by some form of need or desire.  
A sound, distant, almost unnoticeable, begins to come into his awareness as he approaches. White noise, not unlike the static a CRT television emits with no signal, grows louder. And louder. He’d cover his ears, if he’d been able to move of his own accord.  
  
By the point that he’s able to identify the object resting on the magenta and black checkered pillar, he’s unable to hear himself think.  
It’s a big, red, button.  
  
He looks at his hands again. They’re polygonal and strange... And they’re not _his_ hands. They hesitate for a moment, before holding a shaking fist above the button.  
And pressing down.  
  


* * *

  
  
Gordon jolts upright, breathing hard.  
Blindly grabbing out for his glasses, he puts them on and looks at the time. 7:50 am. He still had time before he’d have to wake Josh.  
Breathing a sigh of relief that doubled to steady his breathing, he gets up.  
  


As he brushes his teeth, piecing together all of what happened yesterday through his post-waking fugue, there’s a noise from the tub. Jumping at the sound, he cautiously turns and slides back the curtain; only to relax when he sees Benry laying in it.  
  
“Wuh are you doin’ in the dub?” Gordon asks, toothbrush still in mouth.  
  
“huh?” Their eyes move to look at him, but nothing else does.  
  
He holds up a finger and spits into the sink.  
“I asked what you were doing in the tub.”  
  
“just, uh, layin’ dude. what are _you_ doin’ in here?”  
  
Gordon rolls his eyes and goes back to brushing his teeth.

“‘cause to _me_ , it looks like you’re the one intruding here.”

He rinses his mouth before replying.

“I _live_ here.”  
  
“sure you do.”  
  
He groans at this, and gestures towards the door.  
“Either way, can you step out? I’m still using this room.”  
  
Benry takes a second, maybe contemplating saying something suggestive, but ultimately gets up and leaves the bathroom. Gordon locks the door behind him.  
  
In the hall, Benry makes eye contact with themself via the mirror hung at the end near the dining/kitchen/living area. Although practically all they’d been doing after the others went to bed was staring at in the bathroom mirror, examining their new form, their gaze couldn’t help but linger once again. They-  
  
Something’s mumbled under their breath? Nevermind. They move closer to-  
  
“ **i said stop that.** ” Benry’s eyes shift to a red as he looks in a direction that isn’t there-  
  
“ **it’s pretty un-epic of you to ignore me like that.** ”  
  
“Did you say something?”  
  
Gordon walks out of the bathroom, drying his hands on his shirt.  
  
“wha? no,” They say, eyes normal before he can even see them.  
  
“you hearin’ things feetman?”  
  
Gordon sighs and goes to wake up Josh.  
  


* * *

  
  
“We really need to take you guys out clothes shopping.”  
  
Although the group wasn’t covered in blood, or particularly dirty in any way, they couldn’t all just stay in white lab coats and dress clothes for the rest of their lives.  
  
“You’re paying, right?” Bubby starts, “Because we’re not exactly strapped for cash at the moment over here.”  
He exemplifies this by pulling the pockets of his lab coat inside out.  
  
“Now Bubby, it’s rude to impose! Gordon has already provided us with a place to stay in the time being after all.” Dr. Coomer says, but follows it with a look to Gordon, implying that he has no other alternative offer.  
  
Gordon’s phone buzzes on the table. And everyone looks in its direction (aside from Josh who’s preoccupied by his toys)

> [Unknown Number]  
>   
> Hey  
> Apologies for the broken computer :P
> 
> Can’t do anything about that at the moment  
> but I can provide the funds necessary for clothing  
> and pre-arranged housing for your friends.
> 
> Mr. E btw

“Wow, this guy does _not_ sound the same in text messages.”  
  
“What’s happening Mr. Freeman?” Tommy asks.  
  
Gordon looks at the group.  
“Supposedly, we’re going to be given money to buy you guys some new clothes.”  
  
There’s a knock at the door just as he finishes his sentence.  
  
Through the peephole, there’s no-one there, so he opens the door.  
There’s a small cardboard box on the step with the words “NOT SUPPOSEDLY” written on it in black marker.  
  
\------

Inside the box is $500, a sticker that looks like the Jpeg version of Sunkist from the game, and a piece of paper that has what looks like Mr. E’s signature.  
When Gordon sets these things on the table, Bubby’s quick to grab the paper and examine it.  
  
“Who the fuck is ‘Mr. E’”  
  
“Mystery?” asks Dr. Coomer.   
  
“Mr. E” Gordon clarifies, enunciating it clearer. “And can you not swear around Joshua, Bubby?”  
  
“Okay, but who is he?” Bubby repeats.  
  
He thinks through a few ways to explain Mr. E, but eventually just settles with his most accurate answer.  
“I don’t know.”  
  
“You don’t _know_ ?” Bubby parrots again.  
  
Gordon runs his hand through his hair as he attempts to sort out an explanation.  
  


* * *

“Did that make sense?”  
  
He concludes, hoping that even without the mention of the dreams he’d had, that the rest of the science team understood the gist of it.  
“Not in the slightest!” Dr. Coomer says, “But I do understand your connection to Mystery now.”  
  
Gordon sighs, and Benry raises their hand.  
He signals to them that they can speak.  
“why’d you do all that?”  
  
Of course, Benry’d be the one to ask the one question he’d never have an answer to. The one question he had no logical answer for no matter how he spun it.  
  
“I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> read benry's bold text like final boss benry text
> 
> (I'm adding unreliable narrator as a tag after i post this chapter)


	6. A New Wardrobe is in Order

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they go clothes shopping

Aware that attempting to keep everyone in some semblance of order inside the store would be nigh impossible, Gordon lets go of their metaphorical leashes.  
  
“Go in ahead and find stuff you think you’ll wear.”  
  
At this, Bubby and Dr. Coomer, (which Gordon internally reminds himself that the old man had asked him to call him Harold now), gave each other a quick knowing look.  
  
“Race you to the clothing aisle!” Bubby shouted, running before he even finishes speaking.  
  
Harold was close behind, with Tommy quickly chasing after them both, presumably to make sure neither of them destroyed the place.  
  
Chuckling, Gordon goes back to getting a shopping cart.  
  


\----------   
  
Finding his way to the clothing section, he notices Benry not even looking at the clothing options. Instead looking off somewhere behind him.   
  
“Are you even going to look at what they have here?”   
  
Saying this seems to drag Benry back to reality, as he turns and looks at some of the clothes on the racks. Then they look down at the security guard uniform they were still wearing.   
  
“s’ fine like this” he says after extended thought.   
  
“No, it’s  _ not _ . You need something to wear out in public without people assuming you’re cosplaying.”   
  
Benry looks at some of the other people in the store. None of them are looking at him  _ directly _ , but anyone could tell they were glancing at them occasionally out of curiosity.   
  
They cleared their throat.   
“i don’t know what to pick. doesn’t look like this place’s got any epic gamer swag.”   
  
“I can help you expand your wardrobe  _ later _ , we just need to find one or two outfits for you in the meantime.”   
  
At this, Benry relents, and they both look through the clothes for something they could wear.   
  
\-------

  
Because of the ridiculous price of decent quality of clothing, (thanks capitalism), the total of all their combined clothing went over the $500 provided to them. However, Tommy somehow had coupons, (did Gordon see him in a slightly different position before he pulled them out?), leading to the price going just under the budget amount.   
  


* * *

At the house, each of them took turns getting changed into their new outfits and putting their old ones in the wash.    
Bubby, it seemed, only picked out sweaters to wear for shirts, saying something about always being cold.   
Harold chose several Hawaiian shirts and one graphic tee that said: “HIS <3” with an arrow pointing left. He also picked out an identical shirt in Bubby’s size.   
Tommy bought several dress shirts, a few suit slacks, and suspenders, all in various contrasting colors.   
Benry’s outfits, almost entirely picked out by Gordon, consisted of a few hoodies and graphic tees with non-sensical slogans.   
  
Everyone sorts out what they’re wearing fine, but Benry doesn’t take off the security guard helmet.   
  
Although Gordon raises his brow at this, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he opts to hand them a beanie he’d picked out prior.   
  
Hesitating a moment, they eye the hat. Then, seemingly deciding it an apt substitute, they take off their helmet, causing unkempt middle-back length hair to fall out. They hold out the helmet to swap hats with the one Gordon’s holding.   
Taking the helmet, Gordon looks between the headspace inside and the amount of hair Benry has.   
  
“How did you fit all of that in this?”   
  
“what? um, nunya business, duh.”   
They manage to shove all their hair into the beanie. Once it’s sat comfortably on their head, you can’t even tell that much hair is hidden underneath.   
  


* * *

  
  
“So, what’s on the agenda now, Gordon?”   
Gordon looks at Harold when he speaks, and thinks for a moment before remembering the text he’d been sent.   
  
“Mr. E mentioned that he had pre-arranged housing set up, but…”

He trails off.   
  


“You expect us to trust someone who’s named  _ mystery _ ?”   
Bubby interjects, crossing his arms indignantly.   
  
“Well,  _ no _ . I’m just saying I can’t have all of you living here  _ permanently _ . I only have one guest room and sleeping on the couch is  _ hardly  _ the best option for anyone.”   
  
“So you  _ are  _ saying-”   
“Gordon, if you think that that is the best line of action, I’ll trust your judgment.”   
Harold cuts him off before he can twist Gordon’s words, something Gordon’s silently thankful for.   
  
“I agree with Dr. Coomer,” Tommy says. “Mr. E may not- may be our only option.”   
  
Once again, as if on cue, Gordon’s phone chimes.   


>   
>  [Unknown Number]
> 
>   
>  I promise nothing bad will come of those who    
>  stay in any of the provided housings   
>  (not even by outside influences)  
>    
>  Look, I’ve got your best interests at heart, but it’s   
>  up to you to decide where this goes from here.   
>    
>  Still Mr. E btw. You going to change my contact name?

Gordon groans, and relays the messages to the group.   
  
“How does he, do that…” Bubby questions, not actually wanting to know the answer.   
  
Tommy takes a quick glance at Benry. Although they appeared to be paying attention to the game they were playing, Tommy could tell he was really looking somewhere else. Looking at-   
  
Gordon sees Tommy’s brow furrow for a moment, as he says,   
  
“I still think we should take up his offer.”   
  


* * *

  
After opening another, (admittedly sketchy), link Mr. E provided, (after he insisted this one was safe), the group looked over the ‘listings’ of houses.    
Through the back and forth discussion, it was determined that Harold and Bubby would have their own house, and Tommy and Sunkist would join Forzen and Darnold’s house, (after getting their input through text of course).   
  
Through some-sort of glance, Tommy and Benry seem to silently agree on the same thing;   
  
“i’m just gonna… chill here.”   
  
Gordon looks at him, slightly surprised.   
“What?  _ Why _ ?”   
  
“you got this sweet- sweet gamer pad,” he slightly gestures to the area, ”and if  _ i  _ don’t use it you’re just gonna let it go to  _ waste _ .”   
  
“But don’t you-”   
“You  _ do _ have that extra room, Gordon.” Harold interrupts. “It’d be a shame for it to go unused.”   
  
“I guess? But I still don’t-”   
  
“cool.” Benry turns their attention back to the game, deeming the discussion over.   
  
Gordon sighs.   
‘I guess I have a roommate now…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and they were *roomates*!
> 
> i *told* myself i'd wait to post this until tomorrow, but to time my tomorrow would be later today, so no big deal.
> 
> (if you noticed, i changed the spacing of chapter 3 to be more readable to my adhd brain)


	7. Answers? Nope, More Questions.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (mention of burns ahead, but it's not graphic or anything. skip the line after 'not wanting to wake josh' if you don't wanna read it.)

“What now, Mr. Freeman?”  
  
A familiar, drawn-out voice with the tell of age to it calls from the darkness. Gordon attempts to move his attention to the source, but finds himself a passive observer.  
  
“You have what you wanted… do you not?”  
A man in a suit steps into view.  
  
Gordon’s head shakes, and someone uses his hands.  
‘I don’t.’  
  
The G-man laughs dryly.  
“Neither do I, I must admit.” He walks closer.  
“Which is why I’ve come to ask… For your assistance.”

‘Assistance?’  
  
G-man breaths in, presumably to elaborate further, but the darkness around them begins to shake.  
  
A hint of frustration crosses his face as he straightens his suit, and walks in a non-direction.  
  


A door opens-  
  


* * *

  
Gordon wakes up to the smell of something cooking. Looking at the digital clock, it’s either 4 am or pm. Presuming it’s the former, he gets up and goes to the kitchen.  
  
“Benrey?”  
Benry makes a noise in response, a teal ball appearing in the air next to him.  
  
“What are you doing up so late?” He yawns as he speaks, “and what are you cooking?”  
  
They stay slouched against the counter opposite the oven but turn their head back towards Gordon.  
“i won’t sleep.” they look forward again. “dino nuggies.”  
  
The stove timer beeps and Benry moves to the oven, opening it.  
  
“Here let me get-”  
Gordon moves to grab the oven mitts, but they just reach inside barehanded and set the tray on the stovetop.  
  
“What are you doing?!” he whisper-shouts, not wanting to wake Josh.  
  
He grabs one of their hands and sees it's bright red and blistered.  
  
Looking at Benry’s un-affected face in shock, he starts to ask more questions but is cut short by them showing their other hand to Gordon.  
  
“‘s fine,” they say as the skin of their palms quickly stop swelling, a new layer of skin forming right on top and going back to their normal, albeit pallid, skin.  
  
“i’m not human.”  
  
Gordon attempts to compose himself and clears his throat.  
“R-right. Forgot.” he starts heading back to bed, but turns to look at them.  
  
“Use the oven mitts next time.”  
  


* * *

  
By the time Gordon gets up again, Benry’s back in the bean bag, playing some kind of FPS. He leaves them to that and begins his morning schedule. Brushing his hair and teeth-  
  
“ **you’re not supposed to be here.** ”  
  
Looking to Benry, they’re both -here- and still in Gordon’s living room… does that make sense? Their form, standing unthreateningly-  
  
“ **yo, who’re you talkin’ to?** ”  
  
Nobody of _your_ concern.  
  
“ **sounds like it is-** ”  
  
They’re sent somewhere else.  
  
  
It’s noon, and Gordon’s making grilled cheeses for himself, Josh, and Benry.  
  
“So you’re _sure_ you don’t know where that card came from? Cause I’d rather not find out somebody broke in and _you_ , of all people, just let it happen.”  
  
“nope,” they say, coloring in a coloring book with Josh.  
  
He looks over the card again. It’s a simple black business card with white text.  
The front reads:

> House of Electronics  
>    
>  Your shit broke? I can fix it.

The back has a phone number, an email address, a mailing address/store address, and instructions on how to properly mail any broken electronics.  
  
“Of course I’m supposed to blindly trust some stranger with my stuff again...”  
  


* * *

  
“You smell fucking terrible.” Gordon says, sitting on the couch behind Benry’s ‘gamer spot’, free to swear while Josh’s in bed.  
  
They shrug their shoulders in response.  
  
“You’ve been here for 5 days, and the only time you’ve actually been in the shower was to lay in the tub.”  
  
“maybe you’re just smelling yourself, sewer boy.”  
  
He pinches the bridge of his nose.  
“ _Why_ won’t you shower?”  
  
They shift in their spot, but continue playing their game.  
  
“It also couldn’t hurt for you to fix the rats nest you have in your hat.”  
  
The game gets paused. Benry mumbles something and some desaturated lime-green sweet voice floats up.  
Although he can’t parse the meaning, Gordon softens his tone.  
  
“Can you repeat what you said?”  
  
“i don’t know how.” they say, still mumbling over some of it.  
  
He moves to sit on the floor next to them and looks at them. They’re gripping the controller tightly and adverting their eyes.  
  
“I can help if you want.”  
  
Benry suddenly sings out, colors shifting from a vibrant teal to a radiant pink. They choke on it for a moment.  
  
Gordon thinks for a moment on what could ca- his face turns red.  
  
“I-I can brush your hair for you if you shower.”  
  
They cough again, the color dying down, but their eyes still glowing.  
“lame-ass feetman thinks i’d want his help?”  
  
They set the controller down and get up towards the bathroom.  
  
\------------  
  
As Gordon brushes their hair, Benry watches videos on their phone.  
  
“How long has your hair been left like this?”

They respond with an ‘I don’t know’ noise.  
  
Working in sections, he starts to see the consistency of their hair is actually really nice. It’s really dense has a blue-black sheen to it. Unlike normal hair however, it doesn’t have resistance to it when pushed towards the scalp, leasing to it having an almost silk-like--  
  
He hears something familiar come from Benry’s phone.  
  
“the fuck is this?” they ask, moving the phone to be visible to Gordon.  
  
It’s the first video in the series he’d made of the game his now friends had come from.  
  
“Oh, uh, yeah. That…” He shifts uncomfortably but continues brushing their hair.  
“I was recording the game as I played… and thought others would want to watch me play it.”  
  
“y’know it’s rude to spy on people, without, like, their knowledge,” Benry says, but not wholly directed at Gordon.  
  
“Well, yeah, I _know_ , but from my perspective, you guys weren’t people. At least not in the way you are _now_ … That’s also why I overreacted to some of the stuff you guys did. Method acting n’ all.”  
  
Benry looks at the view count.  
“noob gamer couldn’t even get 1,000 views? you never learn the meta of the algorithm little- little gamer baby? need a ‘for dummy’s’ book, _idiot_ ?”  
  
Gordon sighs, but notices Benry doesn’t stop watching the video.  
  
\-----------  
  
By the time Gordon’s done detangling their hair, they’re onto the third video.  
  
“I’m all done with this,” he says, running a hand through sections in case he missed a spot.  
  
“cool. thank you.”  
They stand up from the floor and move to lay on the couch, feet flopped on top of Gordon’s lap.  
  
Gordon runs a hand through his own hair and looks to Benry.  
“You’re not _upset_ about the videos, right?”  
  
He gets a hum in reply, making Gordon sigh and push their legs off so he can get up.  
  
“no... i’m not.” They look at him past the phone.  
  
Gordon gives them a slight smile and heads to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Although Gordon isn't versed in the meaning of the sweet voice colors, you, dear reader, are not Gordon!
> 
> in both context teal means surprise, and although the "desaturated lime green" is actually citron (#9FA91F) it means "you're being mean". You're smart, you can most likely tell what pink means :)
> 
> I have little to no concept of self-restraint, so I'm posting this immediately after completing this chapter.  
> (If you think these should be longer, lmk and I'll do that tho)

**Author's Note:**

> Leave feedback if you have some! I haven't written anything in a while and am a bit rusty.


End file.
